Bitter cold, gusty winds to reach Md. by Monday night

In addition to freezing temperatures, fires, carbon monoxide poisoning and other hazards lurk in winter. Coping with extreme cold at home requires some preparation and a dash of common sense.

Scott Dance, The Baltimore Sun

Winds were gusting and temperatures were falling Monday afternoon as a front moves through carrying the coldest air to hit the region in nearly 20 years.

The day's high came in the morning hours, with Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport reaching 45 degrees around 8-9 a.m. Blustery winds started by 10 a.m., with 20 mph breezes and gusts upward of 30 mph. Temperatures fell to 38 degrees by noon.

Wind chills were expected to reach around freezing by midday and the single digits by the night. A wind chill advisory was in effect across Central Maryland from midnight to 6 p.m. Tuesday.

By early Tuesday morning, air temperatures were expected to plunge to the low single digits, with wind chills as cold as 10-15 degrees below zero. Temperatures Tuesday afternoon were expected to reach only the mid-teens despite sunny skies, with wind gusts as strong as 30 mph keeping wind chills below zero throughout the morning and afternoon.

Temperatures could again fall to the single digits Tuesday night, with wind chills as cold as 5 degrees below zero.

Highs Wednesday were forecast around 30 degrees, with wind chills in the teens and 20s, and then overnight lows in the 20s.

Temperatures could finally rise above freezing again by midday Thursday, with highs around 40 degrees and clouds. A system could bring rain and a wintry mix Thursday into Friday.